Mets vs. Dodgers Game 4 Rapid Reaction

By Kenneth Teape | Oct 13, 2015

The New York Mets had a chance to close out the Los Angeles Dodgers in their National League Division Series Tuesday night, but came up short in Game 4. The Mets were defeated 3-1 by the Dodgers, who won on the back of Clayton Kershaw and one good inning at the plate.

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Kershaw has been the subject of a lot of talk recently for his struggles in the postseason. They have been warranted, as he hasn’t looked like the same pitcher in the postseason as he does in the regular season. His performance tonight should quell some of those people, as Kershaw was outstanding for the Dodgers when they needed him most.

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Kershaw pitched a gem on short rest for the Dodgers, going seven innings. Getting through seven innings is reaching a plateau of sorts for Kershaw, as that had been the trouble inning for him in his recent playoff starts. Against the Mets in Game 1, Kershaw walked three batters in the inning which the Mets used to score two more runs and put the Dodgers away with.

That was not the case in Game 4 though. Kershaw allowed only four Mets to reach base all night, allowing three hits and one walk. No Met even got past first base against Kershaw, with the only blemish being a Daniel Murphy home run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Nothing else was even hit hard, as Yoenis Cespedes had an infield single and Juan Lagares singled into center field for the only hits off Kershaw.

That was all the Mets would muster, as their best chance at breaking through, in the eighth inning, was spoiled by Kenley Jansen. The Mets got two guys on via the walk, but Jansen got Murphy to line out to right field.

Steven Matz wasn’t horrible in his first postseason appearance, but like Matt Harvey the night before, he had one bad inning. Unlike Harvey though, Matz was not picked up by the offense. Four of the six hits that Matz surrendered came in the three-run third inning as Kershaw, Howie Kendrick, Adrian Gonzalez and Justin Turner all got hits in the inning. Turner’s double was the big blow, scoring two runs.

With the loss, the Mets will now have to head back across the country to Los Angeles for a deciding Game 5 Thursday night. The Mets have to hope their offense can get back on track as it did in Game 3, but it will be a tall task going up against Zack Greinke again. Jacob deGrom is expected to take the mound for the Mets in what should be another pitcher’s duel.

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